On this day in 1616, the church
banned De revolutionibus, and
so
our Earth had to halt its orbital
search
around the sun, renew its crescendo
as universe’s center—Ptolemy’s
old theory. Copernicus, of
course, could
have cared less, having risen
through old trees
decades before. Luther’s
followers would
approve, though. Switching
roles may have shaken
the planets, but didn’t alter
much here
on terra firma. Folks still
fried bacon,
fucked each other’s wives,
fought wars, lived in fear.
Day of the ban, some
astronomers cried.
Just over a month later,
Shakespeare died.
Roger Armbrust
March 5, 2013
